Transit program operated by Inter-Agency Council of Salem County in danger of ending if new funding isn't found

SALEM — The Inter-Agency Council of Salem County’s transportation program appears to be in danger of closure later this year unless the agency can find matching funds to go along with its JARC grant from New Jersey Transit.

“We don’t have enough match money to draw down for the year,” Ray Bolden, executive director of the non-profit Inter-Agency Council of Salem County, recently said.

For the past three years, he said the agency has received a significant amount of the match from the Salem Health and Wellness Foundation via a grant. But once the grant was completed, Bolden said they hoped another entity, such as the county, would pick the program up and continue with the match money.

The Inter-Agency Council Transportation Services (IACTS) program transports individuals to and from worksites throughout Salem County and Pureland Industrial Park in Gloucester County. The program costs roughly $400,000 a year to operate, Bolden said.

County Administrator Earl Gage said Thursday that while the Salem County Board of Chosen Freeholders values the program, with the extremely tight budget expected this year, the freeholder board is not considering extra programs for the upcoming budget.

Still, he added, the county will continue to work with the Inter-Agency Council of Salem County to keep the program going in some form and find ways to fund it.“It’s ongoing at this point,” Gage said.

Bolden said with the program’s current funding issues, the agency will be cutting back on the service it provides.

Starting Jan. 25, he said the agency’s plan is to provide service Monday to Friday for first- and second-shift workers, however, the second-shift workers won’t be picked up in the evening.

There also won’t be service to HMS Host sites on the New Jersey Turnpike.

The changes will drop the daily rider trips from roughly 120 to 50, Bolden said.With the changes, he said he believes the program will be able to run until June 30. Signs have been posted on the vehicles now and the riders have been notified of the adjusted service, Bolden said.

The Inter-Agency Council of Salem County’s transportation program, during its full-service run, ran through Salem City, Pennsville, Carneys Point, Penns Grove, Pedricktown, Pureland Industrial Park and the HMS Host site on the New Jersey Turnpike and provided low-income and other qualified people who live in Salem County transportation to their jobs.

The service operated seven days a week and provided access to employment sites that were not accessible by the Salem County Community Bus Service or New Jersey Transit because the bus did not run during second- and third-shifts or the employment location was not on a bus route.

“We had to make tough decisions,” Bolden said, adding the agency had to lay off five of its seven drivers. “In the meantime, we will look for additional funding to carry the program on.”Bolden said the agency’s plan was for the county government to take on the program and fund it.

“That funding didn’t happen, but we are doing the best we can to continue to serve the people,” he said. “I’m going to try and continue to look for additional funding from foundations and grants.”

Bolden said he’s also trying to figure out some additional ways to pay for the program.